Harry Paul Profile

The author of seven books, Paul's best known work is FISH!, one of the highest selling business books in history.

Paul's proven business philosophy, "Fish!", stresses the connection between productivity and building a fun team-focused organizational culture.

Paul has spoken to audiences in at least ten different countries and his ideas have been put into action by leading companies like Verizon, Johnson & Johnson, Domino’s, and Kaiser Permanente.

Harry “The Fish Guy” Paul is the co-author of one of the best-selling business books in history. FISH! A Proven Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results has sold more than 6 million copies and its concepts have been put into place at leading companies like Verizon, Johnson & Johnson, Domino’s, and Kaiser Permanente.

For 20 years since FISH!’s phenomenal debut, Paul has travelled the world helping organizations transform their culture and build fun focused teams. His message and hands-on workshops have received rave reviews from business audiences in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Argentina, Colombia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, India, and Bahrain.

The author of seven books, Paul’s latest release is Who Kidnapped Excellence? What Stops Us from Giving and Being our Best. He is currently researching and writing his eighth book, Who Silenced Communications? His practical business guides have been translated into 35 languages.

Paul brings over 30 years of firsthand business experience in sales, distribution, product development, and international operations to the stage. Prior to embarking on his own professional speaking career, he managed the speaking engagements of Dr. Ken Blanchard, coauthor of The One Minute Manager.

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With a Ph.D. in experience, Harry has over 30 years in business including running all aspects of a management training and consulting business, including sales, distribution, product development and international operations. He has served as a senior vice president for The Ken Blanchard Companies, where he personally managed the speaking career of Dr. Kenneth Blanchard, co-author of The One Minute Manager.

Harry is co-author of six books including the internationally best selling business book FISH! A Proven Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results. FISH! has been on the best seller lists of: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Business Week, Amazon.com and Publisher’s Weekly and is one of the best selling business books of all time.

Harry brings the messages in his books to life in each of his presentations, sharing his message with hundreds of organizations motivating and exciting audiences world wide about going to work and working hard; where their decisions are based on the mission, vision, and values of the organization. With his easy-going and humorous style, audiences leave energized and armed with tools to immediately begin making a positive difference.

Why is Everyone Raving about Harry Paul?
Legendary tales are told. Waves of change follow. And, cranky cultures are washed away with the tide. Harry Paul, aka Harry the Fish! Guy is transforming business all over the world with the Fish Philosophy and Destination: Work!—inspiring organizations with keynote speeches and “hands-on” workshops for leaders and team members.

The Fish Philosophy and Destination: Work has already transformed many of the world’s most successful companies. And, now, Harry Paul can help your team to:

Choose a Winning Attitude: When employees have great attitudes toward work

Creating a Fully Engaged Workforce: Where People turn on the discretionary effort

Play at Work: Yes, there’s a difference between playing at work and playing instead of work

Manage with Trust, not fear: Without trust there is no engagement

Be There: Just because we punch in, doesn’t mean we’re engaged

Focus on People as well as Performance Numbers: Show people you care about them and they will make the numbers

Make Their Day:—High morale, and high spirits, means high customer satisfaction

Harry’s speaking, leadership workshops and books focus on making work fun, creating engaged workforces where your employees say. “I don’t have to go to work, I get to go to work.”

Fish story? No way. You’ve landed a great speaker, motivational expert, and culture consultant—his name is Harry Paul, the Fish! Guy. Sink your hook now, and your team will be talking about it for the next decade!

Harry Paul Speaking Videos

Harry Paul Speaking Demo Video

Harry Paul explains why taking yourself less seriously is one of the most profitable moves you can make at your workplace. If you find ways to “play” at work, you’re more likely to form close bonds with your colleagues, which in turn boosts retention, accountability, and trust. “Are you afraid to share ideas at that time? No, creativity just blossoms,” he points out.

Furthermore, he makes the case that bringing enjoyment to your work is a cost-free initiative that you can launch completely by yourself. “It starts with one person: you,” he affirms.

Harry Paul at Carlsbad Chamber’s First Friday Breakfast

Harry Paul Speaking Demo Video

Harry Paul at Carlsbad Chamber’s First Friday Breakfast

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Harry Paul's Speech Descriptions

Harry Paul’s game changing business philosophy, FISH! breaks down the mental borders between “work” and “play.” Paul makes a compelling business case for taking yourself less seriously, as he demonstrates that the most highly revered companies in the world prosper because their employees are having a good time while they’re on the clock. Whether you’re the senior executive or the latest hire, Paul shows you how you can make your workplace a more enriching and productive environment and launch a wave of change throughout your organization.

When you bring Harry the FISH! Guy to your organization to share one of his programs, magic immediately begins to happen. Your employees will start saying, “I don’t have to go to work. I get to go to work!” and they will bring their best to work everyday. Harry’s presentations are based on his six internationally best-selling business books including Instant Turnaround!, REVVED! and FISH! A Proven Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results.FISH! sold more than 5 million copies, is translated into 35 languages, and is one of the best-selling business books of all time.

Destination: Work
Harry Paul’s latest presentation shows you how to create a fully engaged workforce and build a world-class organization. When someone is engaged with their work, they are excited about coming to work and working hard. As a result, they give every bit of energy, creativity and passion toward performing their job. The level of employee engagement is extremely impor- tant because it’s the primary driver of a company’s financial performance. Companies with high levels of employee engagement are more profitable, their stock prices consistently outperform the market and they experience significant cost savings due to reduced employee turnover, absenteeism, theft and accidents. In addition, employees at companies with high levels of engagement provide superior customer service that results in loyal customers and all-important increases in market share.

Here are a few of the concepts attendees will take away from the presentation:

Focus on People as well as the Performance Numbers

Motivate With Trust Instead of Fear

Turn Work Into Fun

Upper Management Must Be A Team Player

Return on Investment:

Create a fully engaged workforce

Employees will trust management

Tap into the discretionary effort of your employees

Developing an Army of Advocates who will want to work hard for you

Increase in productivity

FISH! for Leaders
FISH! for Leaders takes the FISH! Philosophy to the next level. In addition to Choose Your Attitude, Play, Be There and Make Their Day—your leaders will learn the importance of managing with trust, not fear, recognizing and appreciating everyone for their hard work, understanding how important it is for management to get involved and be visible to their people.

With FISH! for Leaders you can attain and maintain success by reducing turnover, creating exceptional customer experiences, increasing market share, develop productive and happy people who are fully engaged and who know that they are making a difference.

Here are a few of the concepts attendees will take away from the presentation:

How to invest in your people

Practice the 4 B’s of managing with trust

Turn work into fun

Make decisions based on your mission statement

Everyone becomes a team player

Return on Investment:

Loyal employees

Increased energy at work

Employees fully focused on tasks

Become an employer of choice

FISH! for Customer Service
FISH! for Customer Service shows you and your employees how to create memorable customer experiences that cannot be duplicated by your competition. Why? These experiences are created and delivered by your people.

FISH! for Customer Service is a philosophy taken from the world famous Pike’s Place Fish Market in Seattle, Washington. In all likelihood, this fish market is the most profitable 1200-square foot retail location in North America. It’s located right near three other fish markets that sell the same kinds of fish for the same price. Yet the Pike’s Place Fish Market is renowned for its fun-filled environment and has become a top tourist destination in the area.

FISH! for Customer Service will make an obvious difference in your organization. Highlights include:

Know the difference between physical and emotional customer experiences

Create lasting and impactful impressions

Return on Investment

Promote repeat and word-of-mouth business. Consider the implications of social media alone!

Create unique and memorable experiences for the customer

Turn your customers into your marketing juggernaut

Make your customer’s experience sneezable (contagious)!

Creating A Culture of Excellence! This presentation shows you how to build a culture where everyone has passion and understanding for what they are doing. Continuously building the skills necessary to get the job done and remain competitive. Effectively communicating roles and responsibilities without confusion. Having the flexibility to do things differently in the ever-changing competitive business environment we all dwell in and taking ownership for the productivity and profitability of the organization. Doing all this with a great attitude, having fun, being present with people and creating unique customer experiences.

Presented in a fun, interactive and informative style, Harry Paul shows you and your organization how to banish average forever and move continually towards excellence. Here is some of what you and your people will learn from this presentation.

Understanding the four tenets of achieving excellence and use them to banish average in your professional and personal lives forever.

Gain more passion for what you are doing, being flexible to changing circumstances and reacting as they arise, communicating roles and goals more effectively without obfuscation and taking ownership and responsibility for what you are doing even if it’s not part of your job description.

Using fun and play as part of the work process to bring more energy and enthusiasm to work and to help increase productivity.

Understanding the importance of living the vision, mission and values of the organization and making them relevant every day.

Creating unique customer experiences that cannot be duplicated by the competition.

Harry Paul on Speaking

Have a zest for life; don’t look at the day as something just to get through.

SPEAKING.COM: What do you want people to learn / take away from your presentations?

PAUL: They have a choice to enjoy what they’re doing, no matter what they’re doing, and that what they are doing is important. Have a zest for life; don’t look at the day as something just to get through. Don’t be burdened by negativity.

SPEAKING.COM: What kind of special prep work do you do prior to an event? How do you prepare for your speaking engagements?

PAUL: I want to know what’s keeping the client up at night. What pressing issues do they want addressed?

SPEAKING.COM: Have you had any particularly memorable speaking engagements /unusual situations arise while on the road?

PAUL: I was hired to present to all of the employees at the Augusta National Golf Club right before The Masters. I’ve never played golf so I turned down their offer to play a round. I may be the only person to ever say no to a round of golf at that golf club.

SPEAKING.COM: What types of audiences would most benefit from your message?

PAUL: I know it sounds glib, but anyone and everyone can benefit from the Fish! Philosophy!

SPEAKING.COM: Which of your keynote speaking topics are your favorites and why?

PAUL: “The FISH! Philosophy,” “Creating A Culture of Excellence” and “FISH! for Customer Service” are my favorites. They’re fun, high energy, and people get the message immediately. Attendees can use the information as soon as they get back to work.

My first book FISH! was and still is a huge success, and that created a demand for speaking engagements.

SPEAKING.COM: What inspired you to start doing speaking engagements?

PAUL: My first book FISH! was and still is a huge success, and that created a demand for speaking engagements.

I also managed the speaking career of Dr. Ken Blanchard, coauthor of The One Minute Manager. I saw how much joy he got from making a difference in people’s lives through his presentations and books, and that inspired me.

SPEAKING.com Exclusive Interview with Harry Paul

In this interview, Harry Paul discusses:

• The FISH! Philosophy.
• How upper management can be team players.
• The four B's of managing with trust.
• The importance of focusing on people as well as performance numbers.
Read the Full Interview

"If fun isn’t part of the work process, productivity decreases. When work is fun, more work gets done." - Harry Paul

What People are Saying about Seeing Harry Speak

Rating Entries

“Thank you for the wonderful presentation this morning. I′ve already had a few phone calls and everyone really enjoyed themselves (learned a few things too!). Hope that you had as much fun as we did.”Mandy Tompkins, Supervisor, Disbursing Accountant, UC Irvine

Books by Harry Paul:

Instant Turnaround!: Getting People Excited about Coming to Work and Working Hard
Transform Your Workplace!

Imagine a company where people are excited about coming to work and giving their best efforts every day. In this innovative and engrossing business parable, Harry Paul and Ross Reck show managers at all levels how they can immediately and easily increase productivity by tapping into the discretionary effort of the people who work for them. Starting from the most basic aspect of business reality that people intentionally regulate the amount of effort they put into their jobs based upon how they feel they’re being treated the authors point out that the most important part of the job of every manager, team leader, supervisor, and executive is to treat people in such a way that they become excited about applying all their discretionary effort toward performing their jobs.

At the book’s center is the story of Nancy Kim, a human resources director at a magazine that is struggling with all the problems associated with unhappy employees low productivity and morale along with high absenteeism and turnover. After she openly challenges the CEO’s new management-by-the-numbers system, she’s charged with turning the situation around immediately. Filled with real-world studies, Instant Turnaround! shows anyone how to turn the workplace into a destination a place where working hard feels like hardly working because it’s engaging, enjoyable, and fulfilling.

Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results
Imagine a workplace where everyone chooses to bring energy, passion, and a positive attitude to the job everyday. Imagine an environment in which people are truly connected to their work, to their colleagues, and to their customers. This engrossing parable applies ingeniously simple lessons learned from the actual Pike Place fishmongers and addresses today’s most pressing work issues with an appealing message that applies to anyone in any sector in any organization.

Fish! Sticks: A Remarkable Way to Adapt to Changing Times and Keep Your Work Fresh
With more than two million copies in print worldwide, FISH! and FISH! Tales have been fixtures on The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Business Week, The New York Times Business, and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists. The FISH! philosophy has been featured widely in People, Fast Company, and on CBS Television’s Sunday Morning, and CNN’s Business Unusual. Thousands of organizations are using the FISH! philosophy to bring more energy and passion to their work, including Abbott Labs, Arrow Electronics UK Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Ford, Harley-Davidson, the Mayo Clinic, Nabisco, the National Weather Service, Nordstrom, P&G, Prudential, Sprint, the U.S. Army, and Wells Fargo.

There are many ways to make good changes. This brilliant new parable will show you how to help make those changes stick—for good.

Effecting change in an organization is a piece of cake—compared to the real challenge of getting change to stick. Now, the authors of FISH!, the million-plus copy international bestselling book and video phenomenon, have returned with an all-new, stand-alone business parable that shows how anyone can do exactly that. Here is a remarkable way to keep your work vital, alive, and fresh as you navigate staff turnover, tough times, and general run-of-the-mill cynicism and burnout.

When Rhonda, a new manager, takes over from a popular and now promoted boss, she is faced with the problem of how to keep spirits and performance up in a newly-energized unit that has, frankly, started to get bored and cranky and return to its old ways. But then she visits the amazing Tsunami Too, a fictional sushi restaurant that always has a huge line of customers cheerfully waiting for hours to get in. Soon, she realizes that the way to keep her staff and herself motivated and at the top of their game can be learned from a brilliant sushi chef and a bunch of waiters who continually teach one another everything they need to know about giving great customer service, integrating new employees, and maintaining an atmosphere of constant innovation and overall excellence.

FISH! Sticks employs the same kind of easy-to-use story that was used in Fish! to illustrate its three main commitments for continued success: Find IT, Live IT, Coach IT, where the “IT” is each employee’s own personal vision, found withing the overall vision for the business. Chock full of easy-to-grasp examples, this book provides advice that is concrete and can produce immediate improvements in employee morale, customer satisfaction, and productivity—both for the short and long-term.

If you have ever made a change or innovation only to feel soon after that you were backsliding—or if you want to identify what’s working in your workplace and make sure that it keeps working—then FISH! Sticks is a book that will help you achieve your goals.